Cenk Uygur

MSNBC has officially blessed the Reverend Al with his own show. Sharpton, who's been filling in on the network's 6 PM hour for the past two months, will now host his own show, called 'PoliticsNation.'

Sharpton began filling in for Cenk Uygur in early July while he was out on vacation, and put up solid ratings in his stead. Shortly after Uygur returned, he and the network had a very public falling out in which Uygur alleged he was pressured to "tone it down."

"I've known Rev. Sharpton for over a decade and have tremendous respect for him. He has always been one of our most thoughtful and entertaining guests," said MSNBC President Phil Griffin in a statement. "I'm thrilled that he's now reached a point in his career where he's able to devote himself to hosting a nightly show. 'PoliticsNation' is going to be an incredibly strong kick-off to our evening schedule."

Cenk Uygur's brief run as the 6 PM anchor on MSNBC has come to a close. The former 'Young Turks' web host left the network Wednesday after starting there in January. The parting of ways was, according to his own blistering account, mutual, and came after MSNBC executives told him to tone down his show because he was making "people in Washington" uncomfortable.

Uygur's video report about what went down in his final weeks at MSNBC is fairly dramatic. Despite improving on Ed Schultz's numbers when he occupied the 6 PM timeslot and besting CNN in June, Uygur paints a picture of network executives, including MSNBC President Phil Griffin, that were more concerned with reining in his brash, challenging, outsider style than ratings. The network offered him a high-paying job as a contributor when they moved him off the 6PM slot, Uygur said, but he turned it down.

During the week between Christmas and New Years, cable news is full of guest hosts and clip shows. One of these guest hosts, Cenk Uygur, who is filling in on the 'The Ed Show' (weekdays, 6 PM ET on MSNBC) decided to spice things up with a bit of grade school scatological humor. Speaking of former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, Uygur let this one rip:

"Bolton had of course enthusiastically pushed for the Iraq war, he also wanted us to invade Iran. If he could, he'd like to invade Uranus."

The only way we see Bolton recovering from this vicious burn is by responding in kind. Might we suggest a simple but effective "Up your butt with a coconut?"